Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. (Ps 1:1-3 ESV)– Photo by Susanne Schuberth

Asking myself of what, or rather of who, the real Church of God might consist, I recently found a both simple and striking observation by T. Austin Sparks who said,

“The church has no existence in the thought of God apart from the revelation of Jesus Christ, and it is judged according to the measure in which Christ the Son of God’s love is in evidence by its existence.” [1]

Every institution, house church gathering, or theological conference that replaces His name and leading with their own ideas is not The Bride of Christ. Instead, it is indeed an epitome of the antichrist. Two years ago I felt urged to write a poem on this very issue where I called these inventions of the devil “the whore” of Satan. [2] Even before starting to write these verses, I sensed a very strong anointing to do so while I was driven by the fear of God to call a spade a spade. As we know especially from the Old Testament, God does not mince His words. And as we see in the New Testament, Jesus who is The Word of God offended several people by telling them the truth. [3] Not only the Pharisees and scribes received lessons regarding self-knowledge; even His disciples stumbled time and again over His hard words so that many of them eventually left Him as we can read in the following passage.

After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the Twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the Twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.” He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the Twelve, was going to betray him. (Jn 6:66-71 ESV)

The simple difference between those who stayed and those who left Jesus (including Judas) was that they had renounced everything else that had been more important to them than Him. Afterwards there was no person left to whom they could go and ask for spiritual guidance. If Jesus finally had left them too, they would have had no one to follow anymore. From hence we might understand why Peter gave in to the temptation as he wanted to convince Jesus to not die on the cross. If we could not read today about the fact that Judas betrayed Jesus, we would not have known about it, either. From the outside he appeared to be a disciple like the other eleven. But God who knows our very hearts wants us to share His knowledge about the hearts of others too. Actually, there is solely one possibility to ever be able to discern the truth from the lie, the Christ from the Antichrist, and the true Christian from the false Christian. Here is another quote by T.A. Sparks that explains it well.

There are many antichrists in the world and an antichrist is not a spurious, fearful creature, you know, with a tail and a pitchfork. No, an antichrist is something that assumes the place of Christ…. And with the natural judgment, natural powers, you are not able to distinguish between the true and the false. The Christ and the antichrist seem to be so much alike. You can’t discern the difference, but the Anointing will tell you! The Anointing which you have received, when you come into touch with something false, will tell you if the Anointing is really governing, saying, “Be careful,” not in words, but inside. You have a feeling there’s something not quite clear here, not transparent here, not safe here… “I don’t feel happy about this; I can’t tell you why but I just don’t feel quite happy about this… there’s something in me that says: beware.” I am convinced that in a day like this of deceptions and misleadings and all that, the great need is our spiritual discernment; of knowing the Holy Spirit in this way, that He’s able to warn you.

I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him. (1 Jn 2:26-27 ESV)

So, whatever we might call the Church or the Body of Christ is of divine origin exclusively when God’s Holy Spirit dwells in its members who are simultaneously being led by Him. Regarding fellowship, we should submit to each other if we all find one another being IN Christ only. In fact, there is no other spiritual leader needed than our Lord’s Spirit to whom we all should listen with a humble heart. If someone does not hold “fast to the head” (cf. Col 2:19) and keeps spreading his old Adam’s desires by wrapping them in religious words and behavior, we must not ‘obey’ these Christians whenever they share their worldly wisdom and advice with us (Col 2:20). [4] Furthermore, if any institution begins to introduce “ministers” and “ministries” as they see fit, that is, without having been called by God to do so, these bodies do not have the proper head and guidance from Christ. Actually, they are dead! They are godless, man-made entities who can easily be used by Satan just as he wills. Since where there is no discernment of spirits, God allows the devil to do his work and to deceive those who refused to believe the truth (see 2 Thes 2:10).

In closing I offer you a quote I found quite interesting. R.C. Sproul said,

“We need Christ-the real Christ. A Christ born of empty speculation or created to squeeze into the philosopher’s pattern simply won’t do. A recycled Christ, a Christ of compromise, can redeem no one. A Christ watered down, stripped of power, debased of glory, reduced to a symbol, or made impotent by scholarly surgery is not Christ but Antichrist.”

[4] FYI: That is the main reason why I delete comments on this blog, even before moderating them. If someone does not share the truth and the proper gospel, they must not publish their seducing and confusing ideas on here. This is a spiritual blog which I dedicated to our Lord Jesus Christ and to God. I am not perfect and if something I write makes you wonder, please, ask God about it. He will show you the truth, just as the apostle Paul said here, “Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in anything ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.” (Phil 3:15-16 ESV) – If you want to know more about why I delete comments, I explained it here “Do not allow demons to speak!” (https://enteringthepromisedland.wordpress.com/2015/11/11/do-not-allow-demons-to-speak/)

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26 thoughts on “On how to discern the Antichrist or… The Body without its Head is dead”

Susanne you have hit the nail on the head. More than any other generation I believe the spirit of anti-christ has risen up to draw the unsubmitted soul into the counterfeit. Wonderful, powerful and much needed article. Funny last week we wrote on same subject, and this week I am also addressing the soul on my broadcast.

Well said, Susanne. This quote is wonderful, “There are many antichrists in the world and an antichrist is not a spurious, fearful creature, you know, with a tail and a pitchfork. No, an antichrist is something that assumes the place of Christ….”

There’s a banality to evil, it’s very ordinary and normal looking. We people are often looking for something scary and obvious as if evil comes through the door with a tattoo on it’s forehead. I had a pretty powerful revelation about that and really fell apart when I realized those antichrists were so prevalent. Gave me a anxiety attack, that’s for sure. There are many wolves in sheeps clothing and many antichrists in the world today. I tend to look for fruit of the spirit. Words, theology, popularity, none of these things matter as much as seeing some of that fruit. The bible says, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” Genuine love, not the superficial kind, is usually something I can spot and sense pretty well.

I really love these words, “But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you”. Even Christ Himself spoke of don’t call me teacher or rabbi, because the goal of good leadership is to set you on your own path, not to create dependence. Of course we are dependent on God Himself, but He also wants to make us disciples having some authority of our own. You don’t see that much in the human world.

Thank you, Michael! That’s the verse I was searching for. I knew it was here somewhere 🙂

There is a lot of depth to be found in those words and how they apply in different situations, but one thing I often see is really talented brothers and sisters washing dishes or something within the church for like 20 years, while people then raise money to bring in “expert” speakers, curriculums, testimonies. So discipleship, the whole process of sanctification, the personal touch, gets lost in the shuffle while we turn to the experts or the professionals to be Christians for us.

I know what you mean, Gabrielle. One of the largest mistakes I made while a member of a Sunday church was to think that having a good understanding of the Bible would be an asset. WRONG! As soon as someone told the pastor that I was knowledgeable in the scriptures, maybe even more than him, I became a target. It does not bode well to outshine the pastor. So, you see that having a paid professional come in from the outside is safe for the pastor because they will be gone in short order. As for myself, I was usually afforded the unpaid position of church handyman or janitor.

The whole system is set up to promote one man’s agenda and to keep the people divided in a perpetual state of babyhood. This makes for great job security for the “Paid Christian” while it robs the body of Christ of growing in Him as it exercises itself in body life by sharing from what the Spirit has given each of them for the benefit of the whole. How different this is from what Paul wrote,

“What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.” (1Cor 14:26, ESV2011)

Your article sent me to a lot of searching and that quote by Sproul finally did it–I remember getting water immersed after being born of God for twenty years and I was attending a Baptist church–the pastor told me I needed to give my testimony to the board of deacons first on my salvation experience–OH BOY!–I told them that I was on a beach in Florida with an unsaved friend and we were sitting in his motor home smoking a joint and checking out the babes on the beach–suddenly he handed me a book and said–here you want this? The title of the book was–the truth that gives life–I started reading it and a verse from Rev.19 was quoted about no more pain,tears,suffering,etc.–I thought to myself–wow that sounds like the kind of life that I want–the next thing I KNOW I saw Jesus being crucified–then a heavy load was lifted off of me–then I felt something come inside of me ( Gods Spirit )–and lo and behold I had been born from above—the board of deacons about fell over from their chairs–how in the world could you get saved reading from a Jehova witness book?–All I know it was the real Christ that caused it and the jw stuff could not prevent it.

Susanne, Until I read your blog today, I never saw how we partake in the confusion and lies of Satan that are found in those who comment on our blogs with words that are not born from the Spirit of God. What we write might be right from Him and in His timing [yes, we too can miss it when there are areas in our hearts that have not been healed], but if we allow comments that try and turn our words into an admixture of truth and lies, we are “walking in the council of the ungodly and standing with sinners in their ways.” Oh, how we need to yield to the influence of the Spirit in all our ways even when it appears that we are not being “nice” when we take a stand in His truth. Once again we see that in the Kingdom of God the flesh profits NOTHING! Thank you for bravely sharing your insight with us, dear sister. ⭐

When we as bloggers moderate comments that are a mixture of spirit and flesh or are totally divisive in nature, Susanne has shown how Psalm One applies. Here in this article she shows how easy it is to partake in the sin and council of the ungodly, give them a place to make their stand on our blogs and how we can eventually sit down with them in agreement in their wickedness against the gospel of Christ.

I, myself question if I have the spirit of anti christ. I know lately I do not feel very loving and kind. So lately I don’t really want to say anything much except look for those who are hurting to uplift them. I always want to be told the truth but from whom? I recently had an shocking experience from another so called friend in whom I knew was not save because he always finds a way to mock me and lefts those others who do it as well. He tore me up in the public view eye and I was shocked. He said I was very unchristian thinking regarding an issue. I unfriended him sadly but more and more I am getting tired of all this crap. So the Lord in a sense revealed to me the true intent of his heart. Makes me a little nervous these days and sad too that my beliefs are being trampled. No I am not perfect but I never said I was. Right now, I just feel fustrated lately and pressured. Please forgive me. I just feel lost. But I stand firm on Christ. The true Christ.

Hi Susanne (and others who meet here),
As I read your post, I got to the quote from John 6, and the verse number caught my attention. I wanted to know what just the verse 6:66 said: “After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.” Combining this with Rev 13:18, where we learn that the number of the antichrist is the number of a man, and that the number is 666, I learned that the essence of the antichrist spirit is choosing not to follow Jesus, and especially so if one has once been a disciple. This is because whatever the seducing spirit is, it will entice one to turn away from Christ.

There is encouragement in this: regardless of how we feel, if we are holding fast to Jesus, seeking to obey him and learn from him, then we are still on the right path. We will not always do everything right, because he is not done with us yet, but he will complete the work he has begun in bringing us to perfection.

Very good observation, Louise. Thank you so much for your great biblical exposition, too! ⭐

BTW, I happened to see this number 6(:)66 in this Scripture too and told Michael two days ago about it. We were both wondering about that strange (divinely ordained) ‘coincidence’. Seems we heard the same spirit, my sister. Thanks for confirmation! 🙂

Louise, what you wrote about those who have been disciples and have turned away from Christ to something else is exactly what anti-christ spirit does. That word in the Greek “antichristos” means “instead of Christ.” It is really interesting that this verse has that number. Many people today turned from following Christ and been offended by the trials that go with following Him just as they turned from Him in John ch. 6. What He demanded of them was too much for them. The loaves and fishes (prosperity loving) Christians will be the first to turn away when their economy fails and never know that they took the mark of the beast. Six is the number of man and three (three sixes) is the number of the triune God. Putting this together is man taking the place of God in his own life… what real humanism is… each man doing what seems right in his own eyes.

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